Secret Church

---

The New Underground Railroad Posted: 06 Dec 2012 04:00 AM PST North Korea Christian North Koreans, on the whole, experience the worst persecution in the world. They have  been number one on Open Doors’ World Watch List (which ranks countries according to the level of Christian persecution present) for the past ten years. North Korea’s former leader, Kim Jong-Il, was known for his injustice, brutality, disregard for human life, hatred, and unpredictability. According to a recent Open Doors press release, the first year of successor Kim Jong-Un’s rule has not improved the plight of North Korea’s people, especially for the estimated 200,000-400,000 Christians living there. Yet throughout the horrible oppression of North Koreans over the last decade, there has been one secret snapshot of deliverance. An underground railroad, similar to that of America’s antebellum, slave-holding south, has been established. For some, it has brought freedom, ushering them through China to safety. The facilitators within this vast network of safe homes consist mostly of Christ-followers, brave brothers and sisters of ours who are risking it all to help those in need find safety and freedom. And for thousands, this is just what they have found. Now, North Korean refugees who escaped through the underground railroad are removing the shroud of mystery and secrecy in which North Korea has worked so hard to wrap itself. Simultaneously, and probably most importantly to them, these new refugees are finding ways to get information into North Korea to communicate with their families behind the veil. All this is discussed in Melanie Kirkpatirck’s new book, Escape from North Korea: The Untold Story of Asia's Underground Railroad. You can find interviews with Kirkpatrick online through FrontPage Magazine and NPR (where you can also read an excerpt from the book). Kirkpatrick’s website also houses a number of interviews and other great information. NPR Interview with Melanie Kirkpatrick There are glimmers of hope and between 24,000 and 25,000 success stories, but there are also 25 million North Koreans still living in this holocaust. Many of them, like those who take part in the underground railroad, are believers—our brothers and sisters. They need our prayers. Recently, this has been secretly expressed by North Korean Christians to Open Doors. These “secret letters from North Korean Christians express how much they appreciate our prayers and practical support. One church leader wrote, ‘Without you we would not be able to function as Christians.’ Along with their gratitude, several secret church leaders related specific prayer requests.” To read these requests, click here. To download a more comprehensive list that Open Doors has provided, click here. Pray that God would show Himself strong to the people of North Korea and that they would faithfully wait for Him. “But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:26b-28). This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

You are subscribed to email updates from Secret Church Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610